Thursday, September 06, 2012

How to Withdraw a Job Application

On the phone to a shortlisted applicant for an executive level position, Mine Host apologises for being a couple of days returning the call. He offers one of the most well-used cover stories there is: "I've been a bit tied up with a few contracts".Translation: "I don't have to explain myself to you, and I won't be"

"Are you some sort of Gina Rinehart type?" asks the applicant.

Mine Host laughingly states that there are "many differences" between him & the minerals magnate Gina Rinehart.

The candidate then kills their application:

"Glad to hear you're different to her. I just don't understand her greed. If I had that much money, I'd be using it to help people, rather than being greedy with it!"

That did it, Mine Host is many things, however he is not silly enough to let someone with such a mindset to get anywhere near his rice bowl.

How can anyone with that attitude expect to be hired for a job that requires them to do some actual thinking?

UPDATE: There have been a few emails from distant acquaintances, (who it should be noted, aren't in executive level positions) expressing puzzlement at "what is wrong" with the above statement by the job candidate.

For the information of those who are fortunate enough to have not faced the bailiff, the receiver, or had a "no coffee no biscuit" interview with the bank, and thus perhaps have not had economic reality enforced on them, tomorrow's post shall bring enlightenment!

6 comments:

Gina Rinehardt is rich by birth, and when the billions she inherited weren't enough she went to court to have the trust funds her father set up and left for his grandchildren turned over to her. She then has the audacity to lecture people about getting rich through hard work.

At my age (I'm 66 in a couple of months), I sometimes feel that while I'm still fairly young in mindset, the world is advancing so fast that I'm quite out of tune with newer generations. Or, conversely, this could just be some kind of gap between Antipodean and North American attitudes.

Did your applicant actually ask if you were "some sort of Gina Rinehart type" (Yes, I know who she is)? If so, I would have killed the application right then, regardless of my own opinion of her background. Just asking a question like that reveals a lot about someone's perspective on things, particularly on job-seeking.

The "greedy rich people" meme wouldn't even have got a chance to be expressed, unless I was feeling fairly mean and eager to insult someone. Which I usually didn't indulge when I really needed to hire someone, so no, bottom of the pile right off the bat.

But that's me, and I'm thankful not to have to make those decisions anymore.

And yes, that did kill his chances of being offered the position.Actually his application was already dead in the water, as that grade of mindset was already manifesting itself in some of his other musings.